Q: I know the Church Manual requires that “the Readers shall not read from copies or manuscripts, but from the books” (p. 32). Considering today’s technology with e-books and e-readers, the actual definition of a “book” is changing. Also, isn’t the Christian Science Quarterly itself a “copy,” with the Golden Text and Responsive Reading read from it instead of the Bible? So, would using an electronic version of the Bible and Science and Health that was perhaps authorized by the Church be acceptable to read from, such as on an electronic device?
A: Here’s some background about the last sentence of Article III, Section 4 (“Order of Reading”) in the Church Manual: “The Readers shall not read from copies or manuscripts, but from the books.” Reading Lesson Sermons from the Christian Science Quarterly (first published in 1890) was common in Christian Science churches without pastors, even before Mary Baker Eddy ordained the Bible and Science and Health as Pastor for the entire Christian Science denomination in 1895.
It’s clear from historical evidence that “manuscripts” in the context of this By-Law mean handwritten or typed extracts from the Bible and Science and Health, read at services. Mrs. Eddy placed high value on Science and Health being read accurately. Since mistakes can easily creep into handwritten or typed copies, reading from the authoritative text of a printed book would preclude this happening. But another issue that led to this sentence’s inclusion in the Manual was one of copyright. Copyright law, in part, is designed to make sure that an author may reap the financial benefit of his or her work, that the work is properly attributed to the author, and that the integrity of the work is preserved.
Interestingly, Mrs. Eddy originally permitted Christian Scientists to use manuscripts for reading in church. In August 1891, an article by her titled “Advice to Students” appeared in The Christian Science Journal, and was later reprinted, with edits, in Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896 (pp. 298–303). It included the question, “Is it right to copy your works and read them for our public services?” At the time of the article’s inclusion in Miscellaneous Writings, Mrs. Eddy added this sentence: “I allowed, till this permission was withdrawn, students working faithfully for Christ’s cause on earth, the privilege of copying and reading my works for Sunday service; provided, they each and all destroyed the copies at once after said service” (p. 302). Her reasons for ultimately withdrawing permission appear to be a concern that undestroyed handwritten copies of excerpts from her books could easily become altered or attributed to someone else. And once Mrs. Eddy’s general permission to make copies had been withdrawn, those making them without her specific permission were infringing her copyrights—in her eyes, a moral as well as a legal issue.
On January 14, 1895, Mrs. Eddy formalized her desire that Readers should not use handwritten manuscripts in terms of a “rule” which later became part of Article III, Section 4, of the Manual: “[Readers] shall not read from copies or manuscript, but from the books” (L00663, The Mary Baker Eddy Collection).
Hopefully this background information will be of use to those considering the application of Article III, Section 4.
The Mary Baker Eddy Library, Boston
This question and answer may be found online at christianscience.com on the Church Alive page, where it was first published in full. To read the many responses, go to members.christianscience.com/church-alive/week-38/. Readers may also want to refer to the editorial in the February 2012 Journal which touches on this question.
